


golden hour

by axebastard



Category: Outer Banks (TV)
Genre: Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, M/M, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-17
Updated: 2020-07-17
Packaged: 2021-03-05 04:21:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 849
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25338280
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/axebastard/pseuds/axebastard
Summary: JJ gives Pope the best graduation present anybody could ever ask for.
Relationships: JJ/Pope (Outer Banks)
Comments: 10
Kudos: 83





	golden hour

Pope was glad his graduation party was over. Did that make him ungrateful? Was it shitty of him to feel relieved when the last few guests started filing out, wishing him luck on their way?

Maybe. But he'd spent the past three hours talking to eager family members about his future, and the longer it had gone on, the more he'd realized how scared he was. Scared of college. Scared of leaving his parents, and Kie, and JJ.

JJ. He was the only guest still hanging around, helping Pope's mom clean up paper plates and solo cups. He'd dressed up for the occasion: a blue button down tucked hastily into khakis. Pope had been glancing at him all night, again and again, watching JJ entertain his family with dumb jokes and goofy smiles. 

It was impossible not to love him. Pope had learned this firsthand.

Pope found himself slipping away to the front porch, taking a seat on the steps. The sky's signature blue was being eaten away by a torrent of pinks and yellows and oranges; Pope watched them battle it out, sighing. He finally had time to breathe.

Then he heard the porch creak, and Pope didn't need to look to know who it was.

"Your mom makes a killer lemon cake, bro," JJ announced, settling down beside him.

"I know," Pope said, raising both eyebrows at him. "You ate, like, half of it."

"'Cause it was good! Don't judge me, man." JJ started unbuttoning his shirt a little, as if it had been suffocating him, and Pope tried his best not to steal any glances at the newfound sliver of bare chest. JJ tilted his head then, peering at Pope's face with a worried crease in his forehead. "You okay?"

Pope rubbed at his eyes. "Yeah. Just tired."

"Too much talking?"

"Too much everything."

JJ nodded, the worried lines shrinking just a little. He looked out towards the setting sun, its descent seeming to light his hair on fire, face all awash in a warm glow. Then he lit up with some sudden realization, saying, "Oh, hey! I've got somethin' for you."

Curious and confused, Pope watched JJ dig around in his pocket, almost expecting him to pull out a snake or something. But much to Pope's surprise, it was a necklace: a loop of twine with a little wooden fish dangling from it. 

"Just a lil' graduation present," JJ explained, smiling a small, sheepish smile. "Carved the fish myself."

Pope just blinked, breathless, as JJ leaned close to slip the necklace over his head, the fish coming to rest close to his pounding heart. A gift crafted entirely by JJ's loving hands. How could he not love it? 

"Thanks bro," Pope murmured after a beat, too overwhelmed to come up with a better way to express his gratitude. Gratitude, and whatever else was surging in his chest like a wave he would never dare to surf.

"Don't mention it, man. Now you can take a piece of the OBX with you wherever you go," JJ pointed out, but Pope knew it wasn't just the OBX he'd be carrying with him. He'd be carrying JJ. 

It was an honor.

Pope closed his fingers around the wooden fish, smiling. "I think this is the best present I've gotten today."

JJ's eyebrows flew up with genuine surprise. "Wait, seriously?"

"Yeah," Pope said softly, watching the golden light bathing JJ's face mingle with warm pink realization. JJ looked down at his hands, which were fidgeting with one of the dreaded buttons – nervous, like a freshman about to ask his crush to homecoming. Then he cleared his throat.

"There's something else I wanna give you."

"What is it?" Pope asked, blinking, but part of him already knew.

"I dunno if you're gonna want it," JJ admitted, Adam's apple bobbing. Slowly but surely, Pope moved his hand, resting it gently on JJ's thigh. 

"I think I do."

JJ looked from Pope's face to his hand and back again. Then he started to smile, lopsided with love and nerves. "Here goes nothin', then."

Pope's heart was a war drum when JJ reached up to cradle his face with the same loving hands that had made the necklace. JJ's mouth was loving, too: oh-so gentle as it met Pope's own, oh-so warm and soft and _good_. Pope's hands slid up JJ's back, fingertips finding the wispy hair at the nape of JJ's neck. JJ let out a happy little hum, and Pope smiled against his lips, which still tasted like lemon cake. 

Pope couldn't imagine anything sweeter.

The wild thrumming in his chest had been soothed by the time he pulled away and rested his head on JJ's broad shoulder, eyes fluttering shut. 

"I changed my mind," Pope murmured, nuzzling the crook of JJ's neck. " _That_ was the best present I've gotten today."

JJ's body trembled with a wonderful laugh. He put a big arm around Pope's shoulders, holding him close. Closer than he already was. "I waited a helluva long time to give it to you."

Pope smiled. "Definitely worth the wait."

**Author's Note:**

> @gaygaymaybank on tumblr!!


End file.
